Just Like Poison
by Lady NeverAfterNon
Summary: Sikozu deploys her revenge against Scorpius, payback for his leaving her to die on Qujaga.


**Author's Note:** I refuse to believe that the events of the Peacekeeper Wars marks the end of Scorpius and Sikozu. They were awesome.

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**Just Like Poison**

**By: **Lady NeverAfterNon

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There was only one way to look at it, Sikozu decided, standing outside the high door emblazoned with a Peacekeeper insignia: she was completely frelled no matter what happened next. She wasn't sure that her bright idea of infiltrating the Peacekeeper's new Gammak Base was an action of a completely sane person. What she lacked in sanity, however, she made up with pure unadulterated rage. Being left to die did that to a person.

A clatter of rhythmic marching footsteps had her darting for a shadowed alcove, getting just out of sight as a full platoon of Peacekeeper bravos marched in formation right passed her hiding place.

Sikozu held her breath. If she was caught before she completed her agenda then the long and grueling Cycle she had spent figuring out how to successfully infiltrate the new Peacekeeper High Command Gammak Base would be wasted.

The patrol passed without seeing her and she allowed herself a small quick breath of relief. That had been close. Sikozu gave herself a moment to collect herself. Vengeance was within her grasp; waiting a few minutes wouldn't hurt. She needed to be sure the patrol wouldn't hear her overriding the doors.

She crept out of her hiding place and pulled out her override tools. Most of her equipment had been clumsily made. Grunchlk had provided the means with which to escape the doomed water planet Qujaga, but the crooked medicine peddler's contacts in the Uncharted Territories underbelly didn't have the best accommodations. Still, Sikozu was nothing if not motivated. Her tools were clumsy, and her disguise relied mainly upon her ability to get where people would not typically look (up), but her intellect insured her success. It was how she had survived this long, and it would see her through to her goal.

The door was tough, but in the end it fell to her patience. The offices in Peacekeeper High Command were only accessible by the upper echelon of officials; each with their own unique pass code. The codes were nigh unbreakable, but they were no match for Sikozu.

With a quiet beep and then a hiss, the doors to the Peacekeeper inner sanctum opened, revealing controlled chaos.

From the surface the Gammak Base appeared to be an abandoned Nebari mining complex. Inside was a much different story. Peons dashed to and fro, operating equipment and ferrying messages between leaders. Officers drifted between stations, overseeing and ever vigilant. She watched the Peacekeepers, learning how to insert herself into the group dynamic. Show time. Sikozu pulled up her hood, hiding her identifying orange Kalish hair, and strode through the room like she belonged there.

Her confidence worked, as well as the black lace up body suit she'd stolen from a science tech's locker. No one looked twice at her. Then again, officers never paid close attention to the low ranking techs beneath them.

Just outside the science labs her luck failed.

Sikozu ran straight into Captain Braca, nearly knocking the man off of his feet in her single-minded haste to reach her goal.

"Sorry, I didn't see you, Miss-" he stopped, and recognition set in.

Braca's widening eyes met hers and they both knew what she was doing there. Sikozu tensed. She didn't want to hurt him, but she couldn't risk him getting in her way. Braca's eyes surreptitiously flicked up and down her form, doing a quick scan for any hidden weaponry. The medtech bodysuit was skin tight and didn't offer much weapon stashing options. Once he was satisfied that she didn't have any bombs or guns, he stepped back.

For a long second they regarded each other.

Finally Braca glanced furtively back through the door he had just left and then bent close to her.

"Try not to break any of the new data processors," he muttered finally. "Keep the conversation pleasant. If you can."

Sikozu inclined her head. She knew a win when she saw it, and she intended to make the most of it. "I shall do my best."

He cleared his throat. "Right." He made to step around her and Sikozu grabbed his arm. She had to know. If there was something she had overlooked-

"Why are you letting me through?" she demanded quietly. "What if I kill your precious leader?"

Braca looked uncomfortable, clearly hating being asked to address issues out of his command responsibilities. "I doubt you could, for all your talents Miss Shanu." His eyes slid back to the door. "Since you left...He's, well-" he stopped, uncertain how to proceed. "Right," he said again, "I have a missive to attend to. I'll be back in an arn. Don't kill each other."

With that Braca made his escape, leaving Sikozu standing watching his retreating back with a rather befuddled look on her face. She would never understand Peacekeepers. One of the most loyal officers she'd ever encountered had essentially given a potential assassin free reign to confront his commanding officer. Sikozu was not one to look a gift budong in the mouth, however. She stepped into the science lab, taking care to fuse the door shut behind her. It wouldn't keep out anyone determined to get in, but it would slow them down. Whatever the outcome, she would not be escaping.

Her target was the only one in the room, standing bent over a calibrating instrument and surrounded by his science equipment. His imposing form was unmistakable; she would know that black armor and coolant system anywhere. The fact that the room was completely devoid of techs spoke much to the underlying current of fear that surrounded him. Even in his element of power, Scorpius was still feared.

She stood silently behind him, waiting. He sensed her presence immediately.

"Sikozu." Scorpius glanced up at her and then set aside his work. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" He came around the edge of the workstation. His diction was soft and elegant as it always was, and his manner easy, belying the danger he presented.

Sikozu prided herself on her intellect and her ability to rationalize her circumstances. She had had nothing but time to plan what she would say to him when she finally got to him. _You left me to die. You didn't give me a chance. You didn't even try to understand. YOU LEFT ME BEHIND. You fekkik piece of yotz, you broke my heart._ As she looked at him, still the same as ever and apparently none the worse for essentially leaving her to die, all of the carefully thought out speeches she'd come up with flew out the window.

Sikozu punched him in the face.

A brief flash of pain cut through the haze of her anger: she'd cut her hand on his sharp serrated teeth.

Her hand quickly began to throb but she was too angry to care. "You left me!" she snarled, face inches from his. She hauled back to hit him again. If she couldn't find the words, then she'd beat her feelings into him to make him understand what he'd done to her.

Scorpius recovered quickly. His gloved had curled around her throat and he slammed her up against a cabinet. "You betrayed me for _the Scarrans_, Sikozu. What did you think would be the outcome?"

She choked, unable to get any words out. She clawed at his iron grip, but found her efforts useless. He chuckled darkly. "Caught, are we?"

Sikozu made no attempt to try to form cohesive speech when he was nearly crushing her windpipe. Instead she punched him in the head, aiming straight for his cooling rods. Her well timed assault worked. Disoriented, he let her go, but didn't step back. Sikozu made no move to get away. She advanced on him, pacing like an angry cat, until she was flush up against him.

Sikozu poked him in the chest, punctuating each sentence with an angry jab."They had my _people_, Scorpius. The fate of my entire race was at stake. I had no choice. You would have done the same to me if the circumstances presented themselves. If our roles were reversed you would have betrayed me," she said quietly, hands coming up to grip the front of his armor.

His cool gray eyes glittered but he said nothing to that. It was true. They were both equal opportunists. If sacrificing Sikozu would have meant the end of the Scarrans, Scorpius would have betrayed her without hesitation.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me." She let go of him and stepped back, her wounded hand leaving streaks of opaque biloid blood on his armor.

Scorpius took her chin in his hand and tilted her face up to his. "What are you asking of me, then? What is it you want from me, Sikozu?" His touch wasn't gentle, but the unmitigated violence that had boiled between them a few moments ago was now gone.

Sikozu's eyes slid away. "I don't know." She did know, but she wasn't going to tell him that. How would Scorpius even be able to give her what she wanted, when she couldn't even put it into words? He wasn't exactly big on listening.

A machine beeped, signifying the end of its diagnostic process. Scorpius let go of her and moved away to check his readouts. Just like that the tension was gone, the unfinished business between them old news. Sikozu stared at him in disbelief. Out of all the possible scenarios she had run through: her death, his death, frelling on the High Chancellor's desk- his complete indifference was not what she expected.

"Sikozu, would you check the data panel to compare these readings?" he didn't even glance at her, completely immersed back in his experiment.

"Ugh." Sikozu threw up her hands and turned to leave.

They were done, she had her catharsis. It wasn't what she'd hoped for, what she'd wished for in her most secret dreams, but at least she could now move on. She could finally get him out from under her skin. She hadn't thought on what would come next, but a trip back to the Leviathan Graveyard sounded good. No one chasing her, no Crichton and his craziness. She could get back to her research unhindered. The only question now was how she was going to get out of the base alive and in one piece. One moment she was heading for the door, running through her escape options. The next she felt his hand on her arm, spinning her around. Scorpius gripped her hips, lifting her to settle on one of the observation tables. Spindly instruments clattered to the floor to make room for her butt. Her knees settled on either side of his hips, and his hands braced on the wall above her. His face was inches from hers.

"Why did you come back?" Scorpius' voice was soft. The question hung between them like a mine field: tread lightly.

Sikozu studied him, and was slightly surprised to find that he genuinely wanted to know. "We fit," she said simply. "Perhaps we are meant to be together." Aeryn's words felt weird coming out of her mouth, but they also made sense. Putting all ambitions and secret agenda's aside, being with Scorpius simply made sense to her. He was brilliant and clever and resourceful, a unique being in a universe of infinite possibilities. The fact that she was a biloid had never bothered him. There was no one she would rather follow.

Scorpius was silent. Sikozu could see him processing her words and deciding what to do. They had had something together. It wasn't sunshine and fellip nectar, but she had a point and he knew it. Sikozu searched his face, looking for a sign that he was understanding what she was telling him. _I want to stay, please let me stay. Include me, let me in and be honest._

He kissed her. It was tentative, a reflection of the first kiss in his cell on Moya all those cycles ago.

The heavy load of heartbreak and grief Sizoku had been carrying broke and her arms arms slid around his neck. They sank easily into each other, picking up old habits and refamiliarizing themselves with the other. His hand curled into her hair, tangling easily into her regrown curls. Their anger easily translated into passion and Sikozu grinned against his mouth. Passion was one thing they'd never had any trouble with.

Scorpius was unlacing her body suit and pressing wet, open mouthed kisses in a line from her throat down to the space between her breasts while Sikozu was slowly dying from the intense assault on her senses. Her body suit fell completely open just as there was a muffled bang outside the door.

The door fell in, edges melted and smoking from a caustic Peacekeeper infiltration acid. Braca hurried into the room pulse rifle at the ready, followed by a small legion of the Peacekeeper's finest. He had correctly assumed that they would try to kill each other, but he was unprepared to see Sikozu sitting on a table with her suit hanging open and Scorpius's bent head the only thing keeping her decent. Braca choked and looked away in embarrassment, fumbling for the appropriate response to the situation. Unfortunately there was none.

Scorpius solved it for him. "Out!" he roared, hints of his Scarran heritage coloring his voice in a guttural roar.

"Yessir!" Face bright red, Braca clicked his heels together and left, taking the soldiers with him.

Sikozu crossed her arms over her chest. "I would like to stay. Here. With you." Making the words come out was like pulling teeth. Sikozu had never once asked anyone for anything, and it hurt to do so now.

"What if another …circumstance… presents itself?" Scorpius was watching her carefully.

"Aeryn is Peacekeeper, yes?"

Scorpius nodded.

"The plight of the Peacekeeper's is important to her. But she is also John's partner," Sikozu explained. She'd had a lot of time to think about it. "I am still Kalish, and I will always have their desires at heart, but you- you are my partner," she finished weakly. "I do not know how else to put it."

Scorpius grinned suddenly, showing her a sharp smile. "I wouldn't have it any other way, my dear." He pulled her arms up and away, and pinned them over her head.

Sikozu couldn't hold back the smile spreading across her face, so she simply kissed him. They were back in business.

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_Fin._


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